I would definitely agree with you there!  Snakes, worms...what's the difference
right (g)!
And speaking of assumptions - I should not have assumed that you were speaking
English either!

"Orstan, Aydin" wrote:

> We were speaking Turkish & the woman used the Turkish word for "bug". I
> think for most people in the world, the term "bug" (in their own language)
> covers half the invertebrates & the term "worm" covers the other half.
>
> Now I know. If anybody ever warns me about a dangerous "bug", I will assume
> that there is a potentially dangerous arthropod.
>
> Aydin
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: NORA BRYAN [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 9:58 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: land snail parasites
> >
> >
> > Did you really think she meant an insect member of the Order
> > Hemiptera?  There
> > is a good chance she did not know the english term 'scorpion'
> > and so used the
> > general term 'bug'. Even here in our so-called more educated
> > world most people
> > who do not have a natural history background call all crawly
> > things 'bugs'.  I
> > bet 95 percent of educated persons in any country do not know
> > that a scorpion is
> > not an insect.  I would consider the word 'bug' from a
> > layperson in any country
> > to mean any crawly thing.  Your expecting otherwise might
> > have resulted in a
> > more painful experience!
> >
> > "Orstan, Aydin" wrote:
> >
> > > "Natives" usually give good advice, although their terminology &
> > > explanations are likely to be crude, unscientific &
> > confusing. One day last
> > > August I was collecting land snails with a friend along the
> > wall of an old
> > > monastery in Istanbul, Turkey. A woman looking over the wall of the
> > > monastery saw that we were not wearing gloves & warned us
> > about the "bugs"
> > > that could bite. Knowing that there are no biting insects
> > that live under
> > > the rocks in that part of the world, we ignored her advice.
> > The next day, at
> > > nearby locations I started finding tiny (about 1 cm long)
> > scorpions under
> > > the rocks. The woman at the monastery probably had the
> > scorpions in mind,
> > > but in her terminology they fell under "bugs".
> > >
> > > So the "poisonous parasite" that the speaker was warned
> > about could have
> > > been a parasitic worm that sickens the animals.
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Carol B Simpson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > > > Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2000 8:55 AM
> > > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > > Subject: Re: land snail parasites
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > It was my understanding she didn't eat the snails, but just
> > > > collected them.
> > > > And she was warned by the natives that some of them carried a
> > > > poisonous
> > > > parasite.
> > > >
> > > > Carol
> > > >
> >